They certainly are out of scale. I remember people going on about what a tragedy it was that they allowed buildings to be built on some of the tank houses before Artscape took over. I don't see anything different in these plans.
 
I actually have nothing against the towers...they just don't belong in the Distillery District.
 
The towers are very nice. AA does do good work. The Distillery District could do much worse - imagine pre-cast clad towers!

Though I still think they are just too close in. A block or two away would be fine, and I think the two towers there would be amazing at a major corner in the outer core or inner burbs, like Danforth and Coxwell.
 
You can't even see the old Distillery buildings from Parliament anymore.
 
syn said:
Sure, sure...

;)

So what do you think of them?
Click to expand...

Thanks to the mods for removing my post to reduce duplication - and so quickly :)

As for the tower, I think they fit in nicely. In the renderings they appear a tad top-heavy but I think the actual product will look a little lighter, less heavy, as you look up. Especially taking perspective into account when looking up from the ground.

Speaking of ground, the way they integrate in the renderings at ground doesn't seem to detract much, if at all, from the historical structures in any way that I can see, other than to 'open' ground level up a bit. It seems much more 'air-ey' (for a lack of an existing word I can think of) and open than the buildings there now. I'm glad they're not trying to reproduce what's there already like has been done with the previous developments. I find those feel artificial, and in a way almost institutional.

They're definitely in the SP!RE family, no question. But every time I pass by Spire (on my bike) I have to make a conscious effort to look up or I pass by without notice. Very inoffensive and definitely not "in your face".

I do question how the execution of the apparently hovering stairs will end up looking however.
 
Original plan:
55_Mill_Street.JPG
 
I completely agree, Sean Trans.

This could be interesting, but it really makes the place into much more of a playground-adjunct of a condo development, almost a glorified amenities complex, rather than a neighbourhood in its own right.
 
Feeling a bit better about this thanks to the new designs. The old one was a little too Uno Prii fun-with-balconies for my taste.

Impressed that Clewes is still finding ways to do point towers that don't look exactly like his other point towers.
 
I think they'll fit in nicely. It will look better when the Don lands starts construction. They won't look out of place when that starts.
 
This project proves that Toronto has no interest in creating slightly more unified bulk anywhere in the city. I've no idea how these monsters can be defended... What the hell is wrong having some tasteful soft lofts here, with some well integrated additional retail. Is that really so much to ask? To add to the Distillery rather than bounding it off from the rest of the city once and for all?

I like this city, I really do, but why must everything be 3 floors followed by 60? Can't there be some normal progression somewhere?

Novelty seems to indicate Distillery is 'Main Street Muskoka.' I think that's not true. So, the Distillery has some tack, it also has some fantastic venues, such as the Soulpepper; some of the artists here produce interesting work (or, just by saying that, am I just too low brow?). There is a neighbourhood here that's worth improving on.

It could become a REAL community, with the Distillery as the focal point of the community, but without it being THE community. No, I think the condos are what will MAKE the Distillery 'Main Street Muskoka,' drawing a clear line between these gargantuan monsters and the amusment park that will serve them below.
 
salvius said:
This project proves that Toronto has no interest in creating slightly more unified bulk anywhere in the city. I've no idea how these monsters can be defended... What the hell is wrong having some tasteful soft lofts here, with some well integrated additional retail. Is that really so much to ask? To add to the Distillery rather than bounding it off from the rest of the city once and for all?

I like this city, I really do, but why must everything be 3 floors followed by 60? Can't there be some normal progression somewhere?

Novelty seems to indicate Distillery is 'Main Street Muskoka.' I think that's not true. So, the Distillery has some tack, it also has some fantastic venues, such as the Soulpepper; some of the artists here produce interesting work (or, just by saying that, am I just too low brow?). There is a neighbourhood here that's worth improving on.

It could become a REAL community, with the Distillery as the focal point of the community, but without it being THE community. No, I think the condos are what will MAKE the Distillery 'Main Street Muskoka,' drawing a clear line between these gargantuan monsters and the amusment park that will serve them below.
Click to expand...

I agree with you.

I can really see this being one of the those projects that future generations look at and ask "What were they thinking?!?!"
 
It may also be what changes the whole scale of the West Donlands project. Having these two buildings setting a presidence nearby it could change the tone of the West Donlands and add weight to increased height arguments.
 
Pretty renderings don't make for a successful district. Should these things be built and the Distillery District dwarfed to mere minor novelty, we will be stuck with it.

I, too, do not quite understand the need to build a 40+ storey tower right up against this collection of buildings.
 
The bases that use brick are a nice gesture to context. The 5 block long facade of glass and the tall towers are a middle finger gesture to context. Too bad.
 
I like Pei's glass pyramid in the Louvre's courtyard. When you look at it, you know what's modern and what's vieux.

I like that a moden expansion of the ROM screams "I was designed by a starchitect in the early 2000s", and that it doesn't mimic the arched windows and coined brick of a building that was built 100 years earlier.

In both cases the contrast of the old and new bits accentuates the other, just like blue is made bluer by orange, and green is made greener by red, and they look so striking together.

The form works for me here too. Way-back-when, we built closer to the ground. Today, in urban settings we often go tall and thin, as a tall thin object casts a fast-moving long shadow. Putting the same density on fewer floors, lets say a building 1/4 the height, means a similar sized shadow, but not a long one that moves quickly, rather a squat one that moves slowly, keeping close-in areas shaded for far longer. Sure these towers will the sweep the Distillery with shadows, but becuae they are tall, no bit will be dark all day.

With glass towers and podiums for the new buildings at the Distillery we will have that undeniable honesty of architecture-of-the-time, contrasting beautifully with honest architecture of another time. Brick and glass usually set each other off wonderfully.

I hope the brick on the new buildings is minimized.

42
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top